Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The "click" - March 8, 2011

No this isn't some new superhero. It is the sound that my front wheel is making.

It is a once per rotation sound that is fairly quiet and only happens when the wheel is loaded. Initially I had thought maybe a bearing and asked my LBS to look at it. Initially they were unable to find it, but when we tried again in a quieter area with the wheel under load they heard it.

My LBS is great! They tried a number of things but were unable to correct the issue. My biggest concern was that it was a bearing that would suddenly seize, probably when I was doing 50 mph down a hill in traffic. I have been assured that this won't happen...probably. Without any charge for an hour of tinkering (or solution) I was assured that it would be fine unless it got worse.

I posted the question to the couple of boards that I keep up with and had a whole range of possibilities that were suggested, many that I was able to quickly discard or didn't apply because of the type of spokes and nipples that I have. There were four that I found possible: an un-round bearing about to seize, a crack in the rim weld, a loose skewer or a spoke nipple slipping. I added a fifth myself after some extensive research which could be a crack in the plastic bearing shield.

I hope its the simple skewer. If it's the bearing or rim; ACK!! That would be bad on the downhill-fast scenario. If I can't correct this with the skewer then I will have to get the wheel in to be rebuilt. FUN! The worst part is we are back to the Seattle drip, so I won't be able to test it anytime soon, and I fear that once it clears up I will be without my bike while I'm getting this dealt with.

The up-side is, once corrected I should be good to roll another 15,000 miles on these wheels.

Oh and the other up-side is, I got a chance to ride it (thus discovering the click). It was very, very nice to be back on my race bike!

What this is all about

RAAM 2018. That’s what this is all about.
Race Across America. 3000 miles. 100,000 feet of climbing. 12 days.
Right now I have the dream, the desire. My hope is to take that and turn it into a reality. My hope is to race and finish RAAM in 2018.
8 years. It seems like a long time. It doesn’t seem long enough.
I will use this blog to plan, examine, report and track my progress to completing my dream.
I say my dream, but it is more of an “our dream”. None of it would be possible without the support of my wonderful family. My beautiful, talented wife has agreed to follow me on this slightly crazy quest (although I think she views it as more then slightly crazy).
It means there will be lots of planning, lots of training. I will set interim goals. I will create the lists of “to dos”. I will document every step and every stage until 2018.
My first goal: keep this blog updated.
Scott, 10/26/10.